of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kasey Kahne clinched his eighteenth career pole position, with a time of 38.465. After his qualifying run, Kahne commented, "[Turns] 1 and 2 were really strong. Coming to the green, I felt like I was a little bit free, and it was the same through 1 and 2, but I got through there really good and carried a lot of speed down the backstretch. Then, when I got to Turn 3, I couldn't get it to turn enough, so I kind of just floored it and actually used up a lot of the racetrack, went up the track a little bit loose off [the corner] and definitely didn't have as good a 3 and 4 as I would have liked. At that point, I thought I probably gave the pole away, but we were able to still hang on just from the speed that we had in 1 and 2." He was joined on the front row of the grid by Jimmie Johnson. Clint Bowyer qualified third, Tony Stewart took fourth, and Montoya started fifth, after being scored ninth in the final practice session. The four drivers that did not qualify were J. J. Yeley, Scott Riggs, Casey Mears, and Mike Bliss. Race summary The race, the twenty-third out of a total of thirty-six in the season, began at 1 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on ESPN. Conditions were partly cloudy with a high of . Pastor Doug Bradshaw began pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation. Next, Virgin Records recording artists Saving Abel performed the national anthem, and Virginia Craig and Evander Holyfield gave the command for drivers to start their engines. Kasey Kahne held the lead going through the first corner but was passed by Jimmie Johnson before the second lap. Tony Stewart then passed Kahne for the second position. Five laps later, Greg Biffle emerged in third. By lap ten, Johnson had built a 1.7-second lead over Stewart, who was passed by Biffle for second. Biffle caught Johnson by lap 14, but he did not snatch the lead until lap 15. On lap 18, Stewart took second place from Johnson, as Kevin Harvick emerged in fourth. Harvick moved into third after passing Johnson on the next lap. On lap 23, Michael McDowell and P. J. Jones drove to the garage, followed by Joe Nemechek two laps later. On lap